National Committee for Labor Israel - excerpt from Lee O'Brien, American Jewish Organizations and Israel, 1986
This page is an extract, reproduced with permission, from Lee O'Brien, American Jewish Organizations and Israel, Washington DC: Institute for Palestine Studies, 1986. [1]
- Year established: 1923
- President: Aaron L. Solomon
- Executive Vice President: Eliezer Rafaeli
- Address: 333 East 67th Street, New York, N.Y 10021
- Publication: Shalom (quarterly)
General Background
Following the establishment of the Israeli labor federation, Histadrut, in 1920, efforts began in the United States to mobilize labor support systematically for the Histadrut's programs and for the broader goals of Zionism. The NCLI was formed to provide the organizational link between the Histadrut and American labor groups.
The organized labor movement is an integral component of support for Israel in the United States. This support goes back as far as 1917, when the American Federation of Labor (AFL)* (The Congress of Industrial Organizations split off from the AFL in 1935 and rejoined in 1954 to form the AFL-CIO, thus the alternate references to the AFL, the CIO and the AFL-CIO in this section,) passed a resolution recognizing ‘the legitimate claims of the Jewish people for the establishment of a national homeland in Palestine on a basis of self-government.’9 The current leadership of the AFL-CIO points to that resolution when they state the relationship between Israel and the U.S. labor movement is ‘far older than the state of Israel itself ... the leaders of organized labor were far ahead of most other Americans in supporting the Zionists' dream.’ [2]
While the initial impetus for labor support of Zionism came largely from unions with substantial Jewish membership, such as those in the needle and garment trades, support of Zionism became virtually unanimous among the leadership of the U.S labor movement. This unanimity of support transcends strong differences within the AFL-CIO on other foreign policy issues. The more conservative unions, such as the building and construction trades, which favor a strong defense policy and supported U.S. involvement in Vietnam, and the more progressive unions, such as the United Auto Workers, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the International Association of Machinists (IAM), which favor reduced military spending and oppose U.S. intervention in Central America, have all been strong supporters of Israel. Jewish workers and union leaders constitute an important component of labor pro-Israelism. The Jewish Labor Committee (JLC) is a predominantly liberal organization that claims to ‘speak for the totality of Jewish workmen’ in the United States In 1982, Emanuel Muravchik, the JLC's executive director, summed up the goals of his organization:
- Mobilizing and facilitating trade union support for a secure Israel, for human rights and for assistance to Soviet Jews continues to be at the top of JLC's agenda.
- Alongside this now stands, as an equal partner, the mobilization of Jewish community support for liberal economic and social policies. On these twin bases the alliance between organized labor and the organized Jewish community can now be established. [3]
In the summer of 1981, the JLC launched a ‘Labor for a Secure Israel’ program. This is a national effort to develop support for Israel within government and the general community by mobilizing labor in areas where the Jewish community is weak, but where the influence of labor is strong. The program is based in the AFL-CIO's headquarters in Washington.
Structure and Role
The NCLI is an umbrella organization for American Jewish labor groups. It is a member of the Presidents Conference and claims a membership of 500,000. It has sixteen regional groups and 5,000 local affiliates. Its most active constituent member is the American Trade Union Council for Histadrut. A second NCLI affiliate is the American Histadrut Cultural Exchange Institute. The NCLI has two fundraising branches, the Israel Histadrut Campaign and the Israel Histadrut Foundation.
The NCLI ‘provides funds for the social, welfare, vocational, health, and cultural institutions and other services of Histadrut to benefit workers and immigrants and to assist in the integration of newcomers as productive citizens in Israel.’ It further identifies its role as educating the people in the United States about ‘the ideals and accomplishments of the Israel labor movement.’ [4]
Funding
The NCLl fundraises through the Israel Histadrut Campaign, which in turn raises money primarily through fundraising dinners and other events sponsored by its local committees and councils. In 1981, the NCLI reported a total revenue of $2,881,355 and a total expenditure of $2,847,77l. Nearly $2 million was spent on program services in the form of grants and allocations to the following: Histadrut Assistance Fund ($1,024,668), Israel Histadrut Foundation ($370,019), and American Histadrut Cultural Exchange Institute ($9,500).
